


Paris Dreams in White

by GreyDaze



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Action/Adventure, Aged-Up Character(s), Angst, Anxiety, Cat Puns, Comfort, Dark, Depression, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Minor Character Death, Panic Attacks, Suspense, Tragedy, University, Violence, War, eventual identity reveal, lots and lots of angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-01
Updated: 2016-10-02
Packaged: 2018-08-18 20:22:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8174833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreyDaze/pseuds/GreyDaze
Summary: Paris is changing. After five years of constant Akuma attacks, it's not just the heroes that are wearing down. The citizens are calling for an end to the fighting, even if they have to turn against their own protectors.As Ladybug and Chat Noir find themselves increasingly alone in their ever worsening struggle against their foe Hawkmoth, it's not about who they can and can't trust, but what sacrifices they must make for their loved ones to stay safe.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first fanfiction in years. The last time I tried I think I was in middle school. Certainly never saw myself coming back to it, but what can I say- this fandom is one hell of a ride.
> 
> This chapter is more of a prologue- a lighthearted introduction. Things will start getting really serious next chapter.

“You should do my homework for me,” Ladybug whined, falling onto her side, head resting against the cold metal. The two of them were perched in their usual spot atop the Eiffel Tower.

“What?” he laughed. His green eyes flashed teasingly. “But My Lady, your name would be on the homework, and I’m sure I’ve heard you say that I can’t know your real name.” Of course he chose now to be prudent about their identities.

“I don’t care, I can’t do it Chat. I hate math.”

He snorted. “And what makes you think this kitty is any good at calculations?” Actually, he was. Math was one of his best subjects. But he was sure Ladybug would laugh if he said so.

She whimpered. “Seeing how often you miscalculate your landing, I’m sure you’d be terrible. But I don’t care if it’s right, I just want it done. If I turn in one more late assignment, I’m finished.”

He gasped, a little too loudly. “How rude; I land _purr_ fectly on all fours like any good cat. And _you_ turn in an assignment late? I hardly believe it.”

She leaned back up and gave him a rough push on the shoulder. “Oh stop with the puns! How many times do I have to tell you I can’t stand them?”

He wiggled his eyebrows through the mask. “At least once mew.” A withering glare had him stuttering, “More,” praying he wasn’t about to get hit with a yoyo.

“So when do we open the presents?” she asked suddenly. The whole reason they’d gotten together had been the presents after all.

“But we just got here,” he whined. “I wanted to make you wait. It’s fun watching you squirm My Lady.” He chuckled at her impatience. “We still have a few more hours together, isn’t it best to save the best part for last?”

“This is what I get for spending five years with you,” she sighed. Digging around in the bag she’d brought with her she produced a box of baked goods, straight from her parent’s bakery. “Well, we can eat these in the meantime.” His face lit up, eyes glittering.

They were celebrating their anniversary of having met. Well, it should have been about a month prior, but they’d both been too busy with the start of school and decided to have their little party later. Chat had demanded they spend the entire night celebrating, but she’d bargained it down to three hours. She couldn’t remember the last time they’d spent that much time together, other than fighting an akuma.

“Aw Bugaboo, how’d you know?” he gasped, reaching his claws for the box. “I love baked goods!” he whispered in awe, nearly tearing up as steam rolled into the chilly air from the warm bread.

“It’s not hard to picture you as a glutton,” she answered plainly. “I just figured if your stomach was as big as your ego…”

“Hey!” he cried indignantly. “I’ll have you know that I’ve got a very strict diet. And this is going to absolutely _wreck_ it.” _He looks a little too pleased about that,_ she thought.

She grabbed a macaroon for herself while he bit into a croissant. “Honestly Kitty, I think you’re too skinny. You look absolutely frail sometimes.”

He frowned. “Yeah well…”

Her ears grew hot, realizing she might have said something offensive. “I didn’t mean it… That way, exactly. S-sorry.”

“No need to worry, Bugaboo. This cat actually has quite a bit of muscle,” he flexed to prove his point. “In fact, I’m just a _paw_ lled you would even doubt my capability.”

Her mouth quirked into a grin. “Ha! Capability. Just last week, who was it that tripped on his own tail?”

“Good question My Lady. Who was it? I can’t seem to reclaw.” He was far too smug over his not so clever deflection. 

“ _Ugh_ that was awful. Where did you get your terrible sense of humor?”

“Anime,” he replied with a dead serious look.

She sputtered into a guffaw. “ _Anime?_ I had no idea that you were such a nerd this whole time!” Yet it made so much sense.

“I am _not!_ ” He was. He knew he was. But to hear it from his Lady made him feel just a little self conscious.

She sighed, trying to control her fit of giggles. “It’s a compliment Chat. All the best people are nerds,” instantly regretting her words as she met his gaze. His eyes were warm and sparkling. Oh dear, one little compliment and it all goes to his head.

“Aw Bugaboo… You think I’m the best?”

She shoved a macaroon into his gawking mouth. “I didn’t say that,” she replied teasingly. “But anime, huh? Should have known you’d be the type. I’ve only seen a couple. A classmate of mine introduced me to it a few months ago.”

He finished chewing up his macaroon, licking the crumbs off his lips. “Well if you ever need any recommendations I’ve got a _list_. Although I must say, I’d be far more ecstatic if we could watch them all _together_.” She pushed away his face as he leaned in too close, scent wafting to her nose. He always smelled particularly nice and she wondered what kind of cologne he used. It wasn’t terribly overpowering like many of the boys on campus wore. 

“I’ll have to pass, kitty.” His ears drooped, as though he’d been serious. He _wasn’t_ serious was he?

“We could go to my place, and leave the masks on. After all this time, don’t you think we could trust each other enough for that much?” He was hesitant, she could see. Ladybug knew he didn’t want to push her. And a part of her wanted to see reason. He had a point. She already thought of him as her best friend, aside from Alya. Whenever they didn’t see each other for extended periods of time, she’d miss him. If she didn’t try some kind of compromise soon, he might be hurt.

“I-It’s too risky. Someone could see us. And I don’t want to end up finding out where you live.” He opened his mouth to interject, but she quickly cut him off. “I know that wouldn’t bother you Chat, but I don’t want to know.” She brushed some hair out his face. He was so disappointed. Could he have been planning to bring this up? Ladybug could only wonder. “But I’ll tell you what. I’ll download one of those chatting apps, and then I’ll email you my username. So we can text.”

He brightened up considerably with that suggestion. All this time their only form of communication outside the suits was through some old email addresses. He emailed her nearly every day, asking how she was doing. Wondering what she had for breakfast and things like that. She didn’t always reply since she was pretty busy. There was also a creeping feeling that she’d regret being able to talk by phone because she was certain her phone would be buzzing all day. Cat puns twenty-four seven. She wasn’t looking forward to that.

The conversation devolved into mundane chatter from there. The fall air was crisp and cool, chilling what little skin they had exposed. She could see his cheeks getting red, and his breath puffed in clouds. The sun was heading down, leaving Paris to sparkle in the night sky.

Just as the cold was getting to be a bit too much, she decided it was time to do presents and go home. She had classes tomorrow and didn’t want to catch a cold. “Alright Chat, are you ready for your present?”

“ _Paws_ itively ready My Lady. Are you?”

“Of course.” She dug around her bag till she found the packaged gift. “No card, sorry,” she joked as she handed it to him. He looked so touched, as if they didn’t do this every year. He reached into his own bag and pulled out a beautifully wrapped gift. The paper put her own wrapping to shame. She’d found that he tended to get her rather extravagant gifts, even when she asked him not to. 

“On the count of three,” he said. She nodded.

“One… Two… Three!” They ripped off the paper- well Ladybug, gently unpeeled hers so as not to ruin the lovely wrapping. 

Chat Noir squealed, tapping his feet against the beam of the tower. He was overreacting, she thought. It was a simply knit cat-eared hat. She’d even left the rest of the yarn with it in case he wanted to play. Just a joke of course.

Peering at her own gift she was relieved to see it wasn’t anything exceptionally pricey. It was a novelty snow globe with a little Ladybug and Chat Noir holding hands. “Little early for snow globes, but it’s cute. Thanks Chat.” She would place it on her dresser when she got home.

“Thank you my lady! A hat to go with the mittens you made me last year! And some yarn. Plagg will appreciate that.”

“Yup. I feel like I’m supposed to make some kind of joke about kittens and mittens now.” She frowned, trying to remember the expression or story.

“Well this kitten didn’t lose _his_ mittens,” he remarked triumphantly. “I guess we better be getting home. I wouldn’t want My Lady to get sick.” He ran a gloved hand through her hair. “Your face is red.”

“So is yours.” She brushed his hand away. “Alright, well… It was fun hanging out with you tonight. See you again soon, I’ll be sure and email you.” Collecting her things she stood and whipped out her yoyo. With a final wave goodbye the two parted in the direction of their homes.

-

Once home in his apartment, Adrien detransformed. Plagg flew off with a sneeze and loudly demanded camembert cheese. “Just a minute Plagg,” groaned Adrien. He pulled his new hat out his backpack and settled it onto his head. It was plain black with a fuzzy fleece inner lining. It covered his ears with two long strings that ended in golden puffs, resembling his bell. He couldn’t hold back his grin. It fit perfect and was so soft. What a talented Lady he had. 

“ _Adrien,_ ” Plagg whined. 

_Lazy pig of a cat_ , Adrien thought in exasperation. He placed his hat gently on his bed and went to get his kwami’s food from the fridge. Tonight was such a great night. It’d been too long since they’d talked about something other than akuma or Hawkmoth. Or about the recent unrest in Paris. A couple weeks ago they’d agreed to stop patrols since as of late they’d been subject to too many crude remarks during their rounds. And it wasn’t as if patrolling really helped anyway. Sometimes they’d find a citizen in trouble from stalkers or thieves, but it was rare. And they’d never found any clues to Hawkmoth.

There was another thing on his mind. Although his Lady had only agreed to start texting, he was sure that eventually she’d agree to hang out with him. Ever since he moved into his own apartment he could only think about how nice it’d be to have friends come over to hang out. Nino came over every now and then, but he was pretty busy with school, a part time job, and his girlfriend Alya. He could picture Ladybug sitting on his couch, sharing snacks and playing video games. He could introduce her to his favorite anime, or have a sleep over.

“Kid, you’re doing it again.”

Adrien snapped out of his thoughts. “What?”

“Daydreaming about Ladybug. Duh, what else?”

The boy blushed, shooting a glare at the cat god. “Am not. Anyway, I’m going to go take a hot shower.”

-

Marinette held her phone up, flipping through texts from Alya, but not really reading them. Her skin was glowing after her bath and she felt refreshed. Across from her bed on her dresser was the snow globe Chat had given her. It was pretty cute, and she wondered where he’d found it. She’d seen plenty of snow globes dedicated to their other personas, but none just like this. It had a fairly detailed Paris carved around their figures. _He better not have had it specially commissioned just for me_ , she thought. But maybe she was being too presumptuous. 

“You’re smiling,” Tikki commented. “Did you have a lot of fun tonight? Oh! And didn’t you say you were going to email Chat Noir?”

Marinette started, sitting up on her bed. “Oh yeah! Thanks Tikki, it slipped my mind. That guy is probably sitting in front of his computer screen refreshing the page over and over waiting for me.”

Giggling, the kwami settled next to Marinette’s computer. Taking a seat in the chair she began downloading a texting app. After setting up her account she opened her email.

_Set up my account on the hello chat app, username PinkDomino. Just remember the same rules apply with texting me as with the emails! Nothing that could risk your identity. And nothing weird you nerd._

A knock sounded at her door just after pressing send. Surprised she got up and sauntered over to the front door to peer out the peephole. She couldn’t think of anyone that would be here at eleven thirty. From what she could see, there was a mop of familiar brown hair standing right up to the door as the knocking got louder.

When the door unlocked with a click, Alya burst in before Marinette could get it completely open. “ _He-ey,_ how’s it going girl? You ready for a fun night?”

Mouth agape, Marinette could only stutter, “W-what?”

Alya tilted her face down, peering at Marinette above her glasses with pursed lips. “Really? Did you read any of my texts?”

“Well, I was busy. And I mean, it’s already so late, why would you come so late? Fun?”

She watched as Alya made her way over to her couch, getting comfortable. “Oh girl, what am I going to do with you? Also, just kidding about the fun. I’m too tired. Nino’s got food poisoning and I didn’t want to listen to him vomit all night. He’s fine by the way,” she added as Marinette became concerned. “Once he gets it out of his system he’ll be fine. I think he was hanging out with one of his music friends and they decided it would be a good idea to eat some canned cheese that had expired several years ago.” Alya stuck out her tongue, feigning a gag. “It even came from America. I don’t know who in their right mind would actually eat cheese in a can.”

Assured that this was nothing serious, Marinette giggled and took a seat next to her friend. “Well, let him know that I hope he feels better.”

“Sure.” The brunette sighed, stretching out her arms with a yawn. “It’s getting cold, huh? I nearly froze my butt off on the walk over. Guess I need to start wearing a heavier jacket.”

“Yeah. I’m not looking forward to the winter myself. I just get so tired anymore. I could hibernate,” Marinette joked.

Leaning on Marinette’s shoulder, Alya yawned again. “Well we still have a few months before winter.”

She patted her friend’s soft hair. “You sound exhausted. You can go ahead and go to bed if you want. I still have some homework to do.”

Alya’s next yawn turned into a gasp as she remembered something excitedly. “Oh yeah! Speaking of school, you know my literature class?”

Rolling her eyes, Marinette humored her friend. “Yes, Alya. I remember. A class. Literature.”

Alya narrowed her eyes. “You can turn down the sass thank you very much. Anyway, so we got to pick our own subject for our mid-term paper. Professor Morand let us know about the assignment way ahead of time because she says she wants it well researched.”

Nodding, Marinette tried to find Alya’s point. “…And you’ve got a great idea for your paper?” she guessed. _Oh please don’t be about the identity of Ladybug and Chat Noir,_ she prayed.

Alya clapped her hands together. “Yes! I caught word of another superhero over in England who supposedly has the power of miraculous. And that got me thinking- I bet there’re more superheroes than just our own. With some proper research I bet I can discover others around the world and kind of write a history about them. Maybe I could even find a link!”

“Exciting!” Marinette said, for once sincerely interested. From her few and far meetings with Master Fu, she’d come to the realization that there _were_ other miraculous users, but she’d never given it much thought since Master Fu himself never brought them up. But what if she could actually make contact with them? Would they be willing to help her and Chat against Hawkmoth? “If anyone can do it, it’d be you Alya. Reporter extraordinaire.”

“Aw, you flatterer. But there’s one other thing I was thinking might be a good topic to cover.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?”

“A persuasion paper about how Ladybug and Chat Noir have _definitely_ been protecting Paris. Lately there have been a lot of conspiracy theorists you know, thinking that this whole thing has been a hoax for attention, or that our heroes are too incapable of protecting Paris. As someone who as personally been saved by them, I can vouch that they aren’t a danger to public safety and that they _can_ and _will_ beat Hawkmoth.” 

It took a minute for Marinette to respond. She’d been caught off guard the by mention of some rather unpleasant current events. Ladybug and Chat Noir were under scrutiny, and neither of them had made a plan to combat it. “O-oh. That would be a pretty controversial paper, huh? But you could definitely make a convincing argument.”

Another big yawn escaped Alya’s lips. She closed her eyes for a minute, as if asleep, before crawling to her feet. “Yup! I think I’m little more partial to exploring the possibility of other miraculous heroes, but I don’t need to decide just yet. I think I’m going to take you up on your offer to sleep. Good luck with your homework. Night.”

“Good night!”

Padding off to the bedroom, Alya shut the door behind her. Going over to her kitchen table, Marinette pulled out her backpack from under a chair. Her hand scrambled around inside till she managed to pull out a pile of papers and a calculator. She worked on it quietly for a while, until she figured Alya would be asleep.

“Hey Tikki, you around?” she whispered. The spotted kwami appeared from a vase of dying flowers.

“Yes Marinette?”

“I was wondering… There are other miraculous users, right?” Tikki nodded in affirmation. “Would they be willing to help us? Against Hawkmoth I mean.”

Tikki shuffled uncomfortably, a sure sign that she wasn’t going to give a clear answer. “I don’t think so, Marinette. The miraculous are many, and they’re scattered all over the world. And not all of the miraculous are in use at a time. Those who do have them, usually have them for a reason. I think it’s likely that even if we _could_ talk to one of them, they’d have their hands full with their own problem.”

Marinette frowned, resting her chin in her hands. “I see. Well there goes that idea.”

“It could still be worth a try though. I can’t say for sure. Master Fu might be able to give you a better answer.”

Considering it, Marinette realized she didn’t want to bother the old man in this affair. He was a miraculous user too, but he’d never really gotten involved in any of the fights. He only occasionally offered advice. “I don’t think I’ll ask him just yet. He’d probably find a way to tell me to solve it for myself. And I think if he knew something that helpful, he would’ve said so already…”

“Alright Marinette. It’ll be okay- we’ll figure this out somehow. For now, just focus on getting your math done. You still have to go to sleep too!”

Marinette smiled warmly at Tikki. She didn’t know what she’d do without her kwami. Tikki gave good advice and always steered her in the right direction. Tikki kept her from the edge of the confused turmoil in her mind. “Thanks Tikki, will do. Hopefully since Alya is here I won’t sleep through my alarm.”

“I wouldn’t count on it,” Tikki laughed. “She’d probably think you’d learn better from your mistakes.”

Groaning Marinette replied, “I hope not. She’s my best friend; she better not let me down.”

“Haha, that’s true. Well, goodnight Marinette!”

“Night Tikki! Sorry you have to sleep hidden tonight.”

With a nod the little god flew off to some cozy dark space within the apartment. Marinette returned her attention back to her math, gnawing on the end of her pencil.

“Twenty-five x to the eighth power times y to the….” A small paper sticking out from the corner of her work packet caught her eye. It didn’t look math related, and she pulled it out for a closer look.

_Happy Anniversary, My Lady! These five years spent with you have been the best of my life. No matter what challenge we’ve faced, together we’ve been able to beat it. I’m sure we’ll have many more struggles to come in the future, but I want us to remain side by side and overcome it together. I’m not kitten. With your tail-ent and my won-fur-ful purr-sonality we’ll have our enemews crying at our paws.  
-C.N._

And she was laughing. When had that dummy slipped that into her bag? It had started so _sincere_ that the moment it devolved into a atrocious cat puns she just couldn’t help but giggle. It was so very Chat Noir-esque.

Placing the note carefully aside where it wouldn’t be noticed, she went back to her homework with renewed energy.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noir and Ladybug struggle with an especially difficult Akuma attack, and deal with the devastating aftermath. Alya elbows her way into the show.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot more angst this chapter, hope you're prepared!

_Three weeks later…_

She was panting, hand clutched to her side as sweat ran down her cheek. It’d been a damn long while since an akuma had gotten the jump on them like this. In fact, she couldn’t remember a fight this _intense_. Beside her Chat Noir was likely thinking the same. His brow was scrunched in focus as he tried to keep a sharp ear out for another attack. 

The akuma today went by the name of _Little Devil_. She was physically powerful, and could create tiny demon-fairies that were certainly very distracting. They latched onto a person and whispered horrors into their ears. Whenever one blocked their view, Little Devil appeared with a powerful swing. Ladybug was certain her ribs were badly bruised, maybe even broken. 

Suddenly, Chat jumped to his feet. Alarmed, she joined him, eyes following his gaze to the street. But it was only a man who came into view, shirt mussed as he swung his arms at a demon-fairy that was cackling around his head. The pair relaxed and Ladybug swung her yoyo to knock out his tormentor. 

He fixed a furious gaze on them, and then began marching closer. “ _You!_ You damn freaks! Near every week this happens!” As he neared Chat took a protective stance in front of Ladybug, face guarded. Clearly this man wasn’t a fan. There seemed to be more and more people like this every day. “Why don’t you and that stupid moth man take your quarrel elsewhere? Get out of our city!” He shook an angry fist at them, cheeks red and eyes mad. “It’s only a matter of time till someone gets killed from this nonsense!”

Chat Noir drew himself up to his full height and regarded the man evenly. “Sir, I’m sorry about your grievance. If we could ask Hawkmoth to kindly stop attacking us, we’d do it. I don’t think he’s very willing to listen however. Now if you’ll excuse us, we have an akuma to stop.” He pushed the man aside and took Ladybug’s hand, rushing them past him before he could utter another word.

There were people screaming and crying in the streets. Demon-fairies were multiplying, flying in swarms all around. A rough voice boomed from overhead nearby. “ _Where are they?_ Bring me their miraculous now!”

“What’s the plan My Lady?” Chat asked. Ladybug bit her lip. They’d been fighting for hours and they’d yet to figure out what the cursed object was. It could be the pitchfork Little Devil carried, but a gut feeling told her otherwise. 

Little Devil had very little on her person. Stockings and shorts, some kind of crop top. A pair of earrings, but there was little to indicate they were of importance. A large pair of black horns adorned her head and they were hardly the removable sort. Winged anklets, but that made even less sense than her weapon.

It had to be the pitch fork, right? There was no more time to think. Little Devil came into view and spotted them, flashing a wicked grin. “I found you! It’s time to make you _pay_. Everyone will pay! For the nasty things people say behind my back!” She pointed her pitchfork at them, commanding a flock of demon-fairies. 

“Chat,” she said as the monsters dived for them. “We need a distraction. Get the pitchfork away from her. It’s got to be in there-”

“But My Lady, earlier you said it couldn’t-”

“I know kitty, but it’s our only choice! I’ll fight the fairies, you get that pitch fork!”

He looked ready to argue, surely wanting to volunteer himself as the distraction, but instead nodded. She swung her yoyo at the demons, capturing their attention as he went around.

“Ooh, look at the little bug,” one of them cackled. “With that silly little string toy.”

“She’s so tiny, must be a little girl!” another joined in.

“Parading around in a cute little onesie!”

She bit her lip to hold back a snide retort. There wasn’t any point in arguing with these things, a reply only goaded them on. Instead she took her yoyo and began swinging it rapidly, forming a shield against them. Anytime they got too close she sheared them back into nothing. They would disappear with a pop if injured.

Chat was having a hard time of it on his own. He’d knocked Little Devil to the ground, but his staff only interlocked with her pitchfork, leaving both in a stalemate. “You damn cat! You’re in the way of my revenge, just hand me your miraculous!”

“I’m a _fur_ aid I can’t do that,” he answered in mock apology. “Maybe you should just let go of your revenge?”

“ _No!_ ” she shouted, knocking him to the ground in a sudden fit of rage. He rolled over just as her pitchfork slammed to the ground where he’d been. “The things they said were so cruel! And it didn’t stop with mean words! They tried to _steal_ it! My precious memento,” her voice broke into a wail. 

He barely dodged her wide swing, the pitch fork ripping into the side of his suit. He winced, it’d clipped him. He sure hoped Ladybug’s magic could fix it- but more often than not her magic didn’t affect them. Only once when they’d fought some kind of barber akuma had her magic worked, returning his shaved hair to normal. Gosh, he certainly didn’t want to recall that. It’d been embarrassing to say the least. He wondered why her magic would fix his hair, but not his hurts.

Inadvertently, he’d been cornered. Backed against the wall of a building. Little Devil’s expression was cold, her eyes icy with rage. It was then that he noticed something flashing against her wild hair. It looked like some kind of medallion or coin attached to one of her hair clips. He was going to get one opportunity to get the cursed object, and he had to decide between the pitch fork and her hair ornament. If he was wrong, Ladybug was probably going to give him an earful. 

“Cataclysm!” he shouted, reaching behind him for the wall. It was at least a three story building, yet it began crumbling to pieces after a moment. He ran to get out of the way of the cracking, falling bricks. He hoped he wasn’t about to get crushed by his own attack.

Startled, Little Devil had let down her guard. He took this chance to snatch her medallion out of her hair as he escaped. She let out of squawk, and tripped backwards. “Give it back! Not you too!” she cried.

He glanced back at her as she scrambled to her feet after him. New demon-fairies emerged from the end of her weapon, screeching. He gulped. He had to get back to Ladybug. But first, he had to take cover before his miraculous timed out.

Meanwhile, Ladybug herself was in a mess. The monsters were tugging at her hair and biting at her arms. Where she destroyed them, more hurried to take their place. She was given no other choice- “Lucky Charm!” Throwing up her arms she grabbed the newly apparated tool- a polka-dotted hand vacuum. Rolling her eyes she turned it on and began sucking up the demons, perhaps relishing a little in their final screams of terror. 

She’d just finished as she heard a boom. She watched as a building broke apart and crashed to the ground near where she’d sent Chat. Oh boy that cat was in trouble. Smoke billowed out across the ground as the building met the ground, and her field of vision was obscured.

Ladybug hesitated. She needed to find Chat now that the monsters were taken care of. She couldn’t _see_ however, and that was a problem. She glanced at the vacuum in her hands. Well, maybe that would-

“Ladybug?” a frail voice asked. She looked over, and then down to see a small child. His face was snot-covered and eyes a bleary red from tears. Poor kid- those demons had said some nasty things. He was probably terrified.

“Hey there kiddo,” she said calmly, kneeling down next to him. “It’s going to be okay. Are you hurt anywhere?”

He shook his head, bottom lip quivering. “N-no… But I can’t find my momma!”  
That would be tough in this chaos. But she plastered on a small smile and patted his head. “Well, you came to the right person. I’ll clear up this smoke and help you find her. See, look- I’ve got a vacuum!” She turned it on, the suction taking in all the smoke at a rapid pace.

The sight that greeted her when it had cleared up was enough to make her regret regaining their vision. Little Devil, who’s skin had been red to begin with, was now even more vibrant as she seethed. And _was that_ \- her weapon was still firmly in hand. Where was Chat? Was he hurt? Ladybug struggled to hold back the panic as it swelled from her chest. “ _There_ you are, you disgusting _worm_. Your friend took something of mine and I want it _back!_ ”

“I’m afraid I haven’t seen him,” she said stiffly, standing in front of the boy. “Run,” she whispered as he looked up with big scared eyes.

Little Devil frowned. “Well that’s just too bad.”

At that moment a tiny demon-fairy smacked into her face, hissing. She jumped, vacuum falling from her hands. Then she tripped- the boy behind her hadn’t left, apparently frozen in fear. There was a thud and short cry, something warm spilling on her face. She dug her fingers into the demon, crushing it into thin air.  
Little Devil’s attack had gone quite off target, but Ladybug wouldn’t look. Not yet. Her heart was in her throat, and stomach tossing. She ignored it, using her legs to kick the weapon from Little Devil’s hands. Getting to her feet she knocked the akumatized victim down, holding onto her arms.

“Let me go! Let me go! I have to get revenge!”

Ladybug couldn’t say anything, not trusting her own voice. There was blood on Little Devil’s face. Blood. Her stomach lurched again, and she squeezed her eyes shut, putting more pressure in her grip.

“My Lady-” Chat’s voice came to a sudden stop.

“Just give me the item already Chat! You got something right?” She cried voice hoarse. Maybe if they hurried…

She adjusted her hold on Little Devil, slipping the girl’s arm under one of her legs to free a hand for the cursed object. “Break it for me,” she added. He did as she asked, face pale. From the medallion flew a dark butterfly. Jumping to her feet, she took her yoyo, capturing it. “Miraculous Ladybug!”

A red magic overtook the city, fixing the things that were broken, healing citizens’ minor cuts, and returning Little Devil to a human state. The girl’s eyes looked around in confusion, horror dawning on her face as she came to the realization of what must have occurred. 

Ladybug dared to look behind her at the boy. And her heart broke. His body lay there, broken and bloody. So still.

“My boy!” a woman cried as she came out from behind a car. “My baby!”

“C-call an ambulance,” Ladybug said. “Someone call an ambulance!” She took a step towards the boy, as if there was something she could do.

“Get away from him you monster!” the woman shouted. “You killed him! It’s your fault! Go away!”

A firm hand grabbed her shoulder, warm. “Let’s go,” Chat Noir whispered. Holding tight to her, he used his staff to give them an escape, leading them several blocks away from the attack sight. Once safely out of sight he let her go.

Unable to stand it any longer, she ran to the corner and heaved. The shaking wouldn’t stop. Where did this go wrong? How did this happen?

Her miraculous beeped, tethering her to reality when she just wanted to escape. She wanted to think of something else. Her sewing project. That test she had tomorrow- oh god, how was she going to take a test with this infernal _image_ staining her mind? Her conscious wasn’t going to let her forget so easily.

Her partner rubbed her back slowly. “I’m sorry My Lady,” his voice cracked and he sniffled. “It’s my fault. If I’d gotten here sooner or maybe if I’d just taken her weapon like you’d said-”

“S-stop Chat,” she gasped, straightening. “We can’t know the future. But it’s my fault because I was _there_ ,” she had to catch her breath. It was getting tough to breathe, and she just wanted to curl up and cry somewhere private. Beep. “You need to go,” she muttered.

“I can’t. I need to know you’re going to be okay.”  
_You’re crying too_ , she thought. “I will deal with it. I have to. But you can’t stay Chat, my identity…” She fixed him with a stubborn look.

He wanted to argue, she could see it in his eyes. Her gaze flickered down, catching sight of his cut. That needed to be taken care of as soon as possible, unless he wanted a nasty scare. “Go,” she commanded. Shoulders slumping, he took her into a brief hug and turned away.

“I’m always here for you Ladybug,” he whispered before he left.

Her chin quivered. Damn him for saying something so sappy. Sometimes she hated knowing people cared. Whenever she got a nasty bump or scrape, there was always someone there worrying for her. Tears poured down her face, stinging her little cuts and scrapes. A bright flash of red and she was just Marinette again. Feeling like she’d been put through the ringer. The pain was always worse when she turned back, something about the magic of the suit covering it up.

“Marinette?” Tikki said softly, gazing into Marinette’s dull blue eyes. “Let’s get you home and cleaned up, okay? We can talk when you get back to the apartment if you want.” With a nod from Marinette to confirm she’d heard, Tikki took shelter in her purse.

Although wobbling, she managed to start her journey home, hoping no one could see how roughed up she was. She imagined herself stitching into cloth, noting the color and the space of the stitching. Anything to keep the memory out. Anything to hold herself together.

When she finally got back to her apartment, she collapsed on the couch, resting for several minutes until Tikki prodded her back up. “Marinette, you need to clean those cuts. Then you can go to sleep, okay?” She sighed, but did as the kwami asked. Tikki was the most worried for her out of anyone. Ever since she’d started University, she’d been terrible about taking care of herself. She’d thrown herself into her studies, but between school and her superhero duty, her energy was drained. She made instant meals, when she thought about it. Stayed up too late, woke up late. She was missing several assignments. She was losing all her confidence. Whenever Alya brought up her disarray of a life, she would jokingly say, “You know me, I’m a hot mess.” It kept Alya from pressing further anyway. 

None of her wounds were very deep, just irritating. Like a bunch of paper cuts. The biggest problem was her ribs. Lifting up her shirt she looked at the purpled skin. Definitely bruised. Gingerly pressing her fingers against it, she deemed they weren’t broken. Also, she wasn’t going to touch them again because it hurt like a _bitch_. 

Finished, she reached for the bathroom handle- and froze. His face flashed into her mind again. A scared and confused child. Lost. She was a role model, a hero, a protector. And he’d been… Her stomach tensed and she squeezed her eyes shut. Her legs gave out and she descended to the floor. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed. Deep and loud. Her kwami rushed to her side.

“Oh Mari, I know… It wasn’t your fault. You tried your best. We just have to work harder to stop Hawkmoth, so this can’t happen again.” The kwami rubbed her cheek with her tiny hand. “I know, it’s terrible. A tragedy.”

“W-why Tikki? Why can’t my miraculous cure him? It’s because of an akuma that this happened!” she cried.

Tikki frowned, floating down to rest in her lap. “There is no magic powerful enough to bring back the dead, Marinette. If the dead could be resurrected, then all life would lose meaning. For now, it’s alright to cry. Let it out. And just know that there are lots of people with you for you to share your pain with.”

With a pang, Marinette let the tears come, her whole body wracked with terrible sobbing as her mind ravaged her with haunting thoughts, much like the demons that Little Devil had sent after her. She cried till finally her lungs couldn’t take it anymore and the weeping slowed to a stop. Mind going blank, she sat in silence. Gently, Tikki took her hand and guided her up, leading her to her bedroom to lie down. Sleep had never sounded so nice. 

-

Adrien stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, trying to drown out the sound of Plagg disgustingly consuming his cheese. Sweat dipped down the sides of face, matting down his hair. Face pale and eyes sickly. He’d just finished stitching up his wound. He still wasn’t very good at it; he’d only needed to do it a few other times. Any sudden trips to the hospital and his father would hear about it, even if Adrien didn’t live in the mansion anymore. 

“Hey kid, you ought to look at the news,” Plagg grumbled from the other room. Adrien huffed a sigh and flipped off the bathroom light. This couldn’t be good. The news never was anymore. The TV bantered quietly in his spacious living room. Plagg joined him as he took a seat on the couch.

In the footer of the station was the headline “ _Ladybug and Chat Noir a Threat to Paris_?” in bold. He grimaced. Lately more often than not the heroes were greeted with suspicion rather than praise. 

A newswoman in a gray suit stood in front of a screen as scenes from the battle today replayed behind her. “-The child’s name was Darcy Janvier. He took a blow that appeared to be meant for Ladybug and was presumed dead before an ambulance could arrive.” Fist clenching, Adrien forced himself to keep watching. It hurt to know that they’d failed today, but he didn’t have the right to look away. He just hoped his Lady wasn’t watching. She’d been so distressed.

The woman continued. The footage changed from the battle to a crowd of people holding signs and shouting. “Protestors have gathered at Avenue Montaigne where today’s Akuma attack primarily occurred. They are calling for a ban on the superheroes, as well as on Hawkmoth. This is the fifth such protest in the last two months. Here are comments from some of the protestors.” The screen filled as live footage of Avenue Montaigne was brought up.

A man’s voice off screen could be heard as a microphone was pointed to a young lady. “Have you ever been a fan of either hero, Ladybug or Chat Noir?”

She looked hesitant to answer, adjusting her scarf in the chill of the air. With a nod to herself she began to speak. “Yes sir. Several years ago my younger brother was akumatized, and they rescued him. But lately I’ve begun to wonder why they haven’t put a stop to Hawkmoth yet. It’s been what, five years now? And every week or so we still have attacks. The akuma have been getting more ruthless, and today an innocent boy was killed.”

“So you think that maybe Ladybug and Chat Noir aren’t really fighting to protect Paris?”

She shook her head. “I think if they really meant to stop Hawkmoth, they would have by now. The powers of these… These miraculous users are just too powerful. Too dangerous.”

“I see. Well thank you.” The camera changed to an older boy’s face further down the street. 

A different voice was interviewing now. “Hello, may I ask what you are here protesting for?”

An angry look grew on the boy’s face. “I want justice! The boy killed today wasn’t the first casualty because of the miraculous users.”

“Oh? Who else was killed?”

“My dear friend Cherilyn took her life three months ago because of the trauma caused by an akuma attack. And I’m sure she’s not the only one who’s been affected by these attacks. Even if at the end of the day, it all goes back to normal; we still have our memories of what occurred.”

“I see. I’m sorry for you loss.”

The camera panned again, with a familiar woman on screen. The mother, Adrien realized. Of the boy who was killed. Skin ashen and eyes puffy, she glanced into the camera. “And what do you think of this, ma’am?”

Her voice was cold, completely chilling. “I want Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Hawkmoth to be stripped of their secret identities and charged for their crimes! Lock these monsters up so no one has to go through this again!” Breaking, she buried her gloved hands into her face, a sob ripping from her chest. “He was only six! He was going to be veterinarian!”

A tear slipped down Adrien’s face. He pulled his feet up to his chest and rested his chin on his knees. “How are we going to fix this, Plagg?” he asked.

The kwami rubbed his head, looking down. “I’m not sure about this kid. It’s tough when the people you protect turn against you, it happens sometimes. But they don’t understand that it isn’t just as easy as ‘finding Hawkmoth’ and beating him. The man doesn’t leave any clues.”

“Don’t you think Hawkmoth might stop after all this? I mean, I’m sure he doesn’t want to be arrested.”

Plagg laughed. “If they could find him just like that, don’t you think we would have? If the creep hasn’t stopped after all this time, I doubt he’s going to now.”

Adrien groaned, leaning back. “There’s got to be something we can do. We have to find him. We have to stop this.”

“Good luck with that,” Plagg answered ironically, floating away. Adrien rolled his eyes. Some help his kwami was. Plagg never gave good advice. 

A friendly face appeared on TV, catching his attention. “-Not a protestor, are you?”

“Of course not! I’m Alya Césaire, I run the Ladyblog. I understand that I may not be welcome here, but I just wanted to make a quick shout out to our heroes. Chat Noir, Ladybug, if you guys are listening I’d like to invite you to have a private interview with me so maybe we can get some of these people’s concerns cleared up? Let me know your answer through the Ladyblog!” Adrien quirked a smile, Alya never changed. He hadn’t seen her almost a year, even though she’d been dating Nino. Come to think of it, when was the last time he’d talked to Nino? He should probably do that before it gets too awkward.

He turned off the TV, rolling onto the couch till he was on his back, wincing as he tugged at his stitches. When he closed his eyes he pictured his Lady’s cheerful face in his mind. All this time and he’d never properly confessed. Anytime he was about to, it seemed like she could read his mind and would get this…Strange expression on her face. He was afraid of what might happen if he tried. Maybe she already had a boyfriend. Someone as amazing as Ladybug wouldn’t have a problem with that after all.

But it wasn’t like he was saving himself for her exactly- he’d dated a few people since getting into University. The relationships never lasted long though because in the end he couldn’t get his Lady out of his mind. Each one had offered its own learning experience, which a sheltered boy like himself desperately needed. His first girlfriend had taught him how to do laundry. She’d been astounded to find four baskets full of dirty clothes that hadn’t been washed since he couldn’t figure out how. Nino had promised to show him, but ended up going on a field trip to a different city in one of his classes.

He could only imagine what Ladybug would say if she’d found out he couldn’t even do his own laundry. ‘What a useless kitten you are, silly.’ Maybe she’d just laugh, doubling over at the realization her partner had never learned to do laundry, but could save the city on a regular basis.

A smile tugged at his lips. Before he could get lost in his fantasies, his phone began to ring. It was just an alarm to remind him to get ready for bed. He had a photo shoot early tomorrow and needed his beauty sleep. Even if it was only 6:30pm. 

He turned off the alarm and clicked on his messages.  
_Adrien: Hey Nino, was wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime. Unless you’re too busy with your girlfriend ; )_

Getting up he went to get ready for bed, putting on some soft flannel pajamas and then spent ten minutes brushing his teeth. When he returned to his phone, he was happy to see a reply.

_Nino: Sure dude. Actually Alya says she wouldn’t mind seeing you too. She wants to bring Marinette- haven’t seen her in a while have you? Might be nice to get the gang back together_

His eyebrows raised. Marinette? He hadn’t seen her since graduation. As he recalled, she was always very friendly and nice to be around. And maybe he’d get really lucky and she’d bring pastries from her parent’s bakery. His diet be damned, now that he lived on his own he was very partial to treating himself now and then.

_Adrien: Sounds good! Would tomorrow work? I have a shoot at three, but it should be done before noon. You guys can pick where to meet up._

_Nino: Great. I think tomorrow’d be fine. Alya’s got to text Marinette, but we’ll let you know. Three in the morning!? Boy, go get some shut eye._

_Adrien: Will do, bro. Later!_

Clicking off his phone Adrien dragged himself to his bedroom. Plagg was already asleep in the laundry basket. He wrinkled his nose, wondering why the kwami couldn’t pick somewhere clean to sleep. He pressed the button to his stereo, starting up a playlist of instrumental music he found helped him sleep at night. After the day he’d had, he wasn’t sure he could get a good rest.

He comforted himself with the knowledge that tomorrow he’d be distracted the first half of the day with work, and then two classes, and then he’d get to see his friends. He wondered if he text Ladybug tonight, since he needed to let her know about Alya’s interview offer. And to make sure she was doing okay. It didn’t take much to convince him however, and he decided it would be best. If she was busy or too upset, she could always reply later.

_PunderfulCat: I hope you are feeling a little better My Lady. I’m not sure if you saw the news, but maybe tomorrow we could discuss something if you are feeling up to it. For now, this cat has to get to bed, goodnight <3_

Setting his phone aside he lay back down. Shutting his eyes he even out his breathing, the sound of Plagg’s snores drifting him into the peaceful bliss of dreams.

-

Marinette blearily looked at her clock. Her eyelids were heavy and her eyes itched. The time was two forty-six in the morning. She wasn’t sure what else she expected after going to bed so early. She reached over and tapped her phone, but it didn’t flash on. She’d forgotten to plug it in, and the battery was dead. Groaning, she rolled over and reached for the charger, securing it to the device.

Her stomach growled angrily. When was the last time she ate anything? She didn’t have a clue. Swinging her legs over the end of her bed, she made her way to the bathroom. After emerging she staggered into the kitchen and turned on the stove, fishing out a carton of eggs from the fridge. She squinted to see the expiration date- still good.

While the stove heated up, she grabbed a bowl from the cupboard and a packet of hot chocolate. Nothing like something warm and sweet first thing on a cold early morning. She put the mixture in the microwave and returned to her pan. A simple fried egg wasn’t very filling, but it was pretty fast. Besides, her digestive system hadn’t quite woken up yet and she didn’t want to overdo it.

Breakfast all set, she placed it on the table and went back to see if her phone had charged enough. It turned on, and she brought it back to the table with her. Sipping her hot chocolate she checked her messages- three missed from Alya. And an email from a teacher reminding students about the test.

Test. Damn, it was good she got up early. She was going to need to study for that. For a moment a cloud passed over her thoughts, as her mind struggled to bring up the events of yesterday. There was no way she was going to let that bother her now. The sleep had cleared and numbed her mind enough for her function, and she had to try to get through the day.

Accidently exiting the messages her eyes flashed as the hello chat app showed one new message. Chat Noir. Quickly she opened it up and skimmed through his short message. Nothing dire. Her heart ached a little at the reminder of yesterday, but she ignored it with the intent of replying.

_PinkDomino: Sorry I missed your text, I was already asleep. I’m feeling a bit better now, don’t worry. What happened on the news?_

Taking another bite of egg, she went back to the other missed texts from Alya. She opened them up, skimming through them. The first message was just her friend gushing about offering to interview Ladybug and Chat Noir (when did she not offer to interview them?) and the other two were consecutive. 

She spat the hot chocolate, nearly dropping the bowl in surprise.

_Alya: Hey girl, was wondering if you’d be up for a double date with me, Nino, and Adrien tomorrow ;D When was the last time you saw him? Still have that crush?_

_Alya: Hellooo? I hope I didn’t break you. Lemme know!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I likely won't be getting chapter three done till next week.  
> There should be more humor next chapter, to lighten things up a little, and the plot will start moving.  
> Reviews appreciated : )
> 
> I'll try to update weekly if I can, but no promises.  
> I don't have a beta yet, so excuse any mistakes (feel free to let me know though)  
> 


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